Scoring Criteria

The Ten Best Web Support Sites of 2019 Site Scoring System

Scoring Instructions for Judges

For each of the 25 criteria described on the following pages, please assign a numerical score that reflects your judgment about this item. Most of the questions deal with your subjective impression of the site, supplemented by information supplied by the entry essays for the last two sections, so please draw the best conclusion you can from the available information.

Each item is worth a specific number of points. They are not all worth the same number of points as they are not all of the same importance. We’ve offered brief text descriptions that correspond to scoring levels for some of the sections, but not all – read carefully. There is no single blueprint for a perfect support site. If the site developers have found an innovative way to deliver a quality support experience, feel free to assign a higher score than our text descriptions might suggest (not above the maximum number of points for that category, please.) Similarly, you should downgrade a poor implementation.

Note that we have three categories of entries—Small (under $100 million), Medium ($100 million to $999 million), and large ($1 billion and up) Company Divisions. Although the scoring questions are the same, each Company’s entry only competes against others in their Division. This approach is intended to “level the playing field” for companies that don’t have the resources to support complex, full-featured sites. This is important for the companies in the competition, but should;d not effect the judges scores in any way.

For each item, you may assign any score between 0 and the maximum for that category. Since a site’s overall standing will be based on a cumulative score (maximum 1000 points), it’s important that you assign a score for every item; answers like “n/a” or “how would I know?” are the same as giving a score of zero points. However, if you can’t locate a feature (because of password problems or difficult navigation) or if an entry essay doesn’t provide essential information, feel free to assign a low score for that scoring question. Note that we are encouraging companies that have onboarding or site overview videos to include links in their essays to help familiarize judges with their sites. Please view any video links provided and reflect them in their scores as appropriate.

Finally, the comments: companies that enter this competition value judges comments very highly. Accordingly we are expanding the comments we are asking from the judges. Judges must make at least one comment for each of the five broad categories being judged, and can enter a comment for each of the 25 scored areas if they choose.. In addition, please describe the three most important enhancements you’d recommend for each site. Length is up to you—anywhere from a few notes to a mini-essay, if that’s what you feel like writing. Comments are no longer optional, because we’ve found that most people who enter are very eager to hear feedback from the judges about how to improve their sites. Your comments are the single most important benefit of the competition to those who enter

Site Scoring System

■ Site User Experience (400 Total Points 40% of all Points)

Based on your first impressions of the site and your subsequent exploration of key features, please assign scores for the following criteria:

1. What’s your impression of the support site’s overall organization and navigation? (200 points total for this group, see below)

Tech support resources are easy to find, but other post-sale content (e.g., forums, training, downloads, phone support, videos, and other support channels) is not well integrated into the main support site. (100 points)

All elements of the site are poorly organized and hard to find (0 points)

2. Are Menus, Pathways, Links, Breadcrumbs and “You are here” evident, logical, and easy to use? (80 points total for this group, see below)

Link-based pathways are clearly defined; usually, less than three clicks are needed to reach popular services and high-traffic articles (80points)

3. What is your impression of the Site’s Dynamic Presentation? Is the site part of the users tool kit rather than a simple web site requiring a great deal of effort to use effectively? (60 points total for this group, see below)

The user interface is dynamic and the site helps to easily personalize the interface (60 points)

Yes, but personalization is mostly limited to product ownership, and takes more effort (30 points)

No personalization (0)

4. Entry Points? (60 points total for this group, see below)

Google search results take you to correct information. Any leaf node is your Home page. Logical entry points are intuitive to new users and veteran users. Site functionality is self-evident in design. (60 points)

5. Personal Content Portability: Dynamic Books/Build your own content and take it with you from device to device even to an airport terminal/library/loaner device (40 points total for this group).

■ Content Engagement and Interaction (190 Points Total, 19% of all Points)
After exploring the site’s content and trying a few knowledgebase queries, please assign scores for the following criteria. Suggestion: to create a test query, select a question from the middle of the FAQ list and reword it.

2. Can Escalate any Content into Tracked Interaction; Feedback, Chat, Click to Call/Chat/Schedule an Expert (20 points total for this group)

Schedule a call/chat/expert with escalation (chat/forum to case, case to management), Get Help with Content (search/browse in content and escalate from content with context for help with that specific content), unified interaction model (all escalations and interactions).

■ Site Improvement Processes – Essay (100 Points Total, 10% of all Points)
Please assign scores for the following criteria:

1. Strategy for site management and ongoing development. Does the site use metrics to determine the most important site needs. Does the site continue to develop and improve. (20 points total for this group)

2. How do site managers research customer needs, industry trends in self-support sites? (20 points total for this group)

3. Managing and maintaining site engagement with all stakeholders. (10 points total for this group)

Does the site perform alpha/beta previews/access, usability studies, customer design council (at exec level) and users.

4. How does the site do operational management of site processes, systems, and content? (20 points total for this group)

How do you implement and maintain your strategy day-to-day?

Do you use robust KM processes, standards-driven content management processes?

■ Site Measurement Processes – Essay (100 Points Total, 10% of all Points)
Based on your review of the site-challenge essay and your experience with the site, please assign scores for the following questions:

How do site developers balance holistic analytics versus organizational goals?

Do site developers messier demonstrated business value?

Do site developers measure demonstrated hard business ROI?

Eligibility Entry ProceduresEntries may be submitted by individuals, companies, or outside firms that participated in the site development process. Each entry must be accompanied by a completed application form, along with an essay that describes the major challenge the site developers faced and three key site features. (The essay should be submitted in electronic form.) We will accept video links to familiarize the judges with your site. An onboarding video might work well for that or an overview video. Do not attach video files as they are too large. Only links will be accepted and will probably help your scores.

Deadline for all entries is Tuesday, April 30, 2019.

ScoringThe judges will use a scoring system that addresses five general areas:

Site user experience

Content offering

Content engagement and interaction

Site improvement (Essay)

Site measurement processes (Essay)

PublicationsThe ten winning sites will be profiled in an annual (approximately 140 page) ASP report that will include screen shots, essays, and related material. All entrants will receive a complimentary pdf of this report after publication. An individual site assessment with average judges scores versus overall averages for your size company, along with specific judge comments is emailed to every entrant. This report is confidential to each entrant.

AdministrationEntries should be submitted to The Association of Support Professionals in electronic form (see application for details). Entry fee is $1,100 for large company entries, $900 for medium company entries, and $700 for small company entries.

Click Here to Download PDF File of the Site Scoring Instruction for Judges

At Cisco we've entered ASP's "Top Ten" for years for both the reality check and the visability

Chris Vejan, Digital Support Comres Lead

The Association of Support Professionals Top 10 Support Sites Award is immensely valuable for Jive. Not only does it provide recognition for our online support solution, it also gives reliable insight and feed back from industry experts that we implement to be even better the following year.

Kevin Williams, Jive Software

The Association of Support Professionals Top 10 Support Web Sites was a great process for our team to work through. Along with being a great opportunity to showcase the work of the many teams that contribute to our online support experience, the submission process itself helped in along some very well defined dimensions, where we stood among our peers. The breakdown of feedback across those dimensions then helped us identify and prioritize improvements that would most benefit our customers. I highly recommend the submission process as a means to help your top opportunities and feed your overall roadmap.

Matt Phillips, Symantec

[/fusion_testimonial]

The Red Hat Customer Portal being named one of the 10 Best Web Support Sites for six years in a row is a humbling experience, and feedback we receive from the judges each year shows there is always room for further improvement. These insights from judges assist us in planning our development and strategy to better engage our customers and stay competitive in the industry year after year.